NEW ROCHELLE, NY - The Iona College volleyball team fell in straight sets (18-25, 21-25, 15-25) to Rider on Tuesday night at the Hynes Center. Sophomore
Jen Soto and senior
Cassandra Patsos led the way offensively for the Gaels, combining for 18 of the team's 30 kills.
In the opening set Iona fell behind early, seeing Rider jump out to a 10-3 lead. The Gaels battled back and cut the deficit to 12-9 with consecutive aces from junior
Samantha Juran. The Gaels couldn't get any closer however, as Rider remained in front for the entirety of the set, capitalizing on four straight attack errors to close out the first set.
Rider continued to hold the lead in the second set, but the Maroon & Gold battled back throughout the set, putting together 11 kills, their highest of the three sets. Trailing late in the set 21-17, Iona rallied with four straight points to draw even thanks to kills from Soto and junior
Julia Thomas. Rider responded, closing out set two 25-21, winning the final four points behind junior Morgan Romano's two of her game-high 18 kills during this important stretch.
Carrying the momentum from sets one and two, Rider remained in control and never trailed in the match. Kills from Romano and sophomore Tori Schrader helped Rider jump out to a lead in the third and final set. Trying to fight back, Soto and sophomore
Hope Matschner drew the Gaels closer on consecutive kills, cutting the deficit to 16-11. Ultimately, Rider would be too strong at the end, closing the match on a 7-2 run, ending the match with a three-set sweep.
Soto, for the third time this season, finished with a team-high in kills with 10 along with posting a .500 hitting percentage with zero errors on 20 attack attempts. Patsos added eight kills on nine digs, with two blocks. Matschner led the Gaels with 13 digs. Juran handed out a team-high 13 assists with sophomoreÂ
Tamara Pichardo right behind her with 12 helpers.Â
UP NEXT
The Gaels hit the road for a two-game road trip this weekend at Siena on Saturday and Marist Sunday. Both matches begin at 1 p.m.
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